A POLICE commander and two firearms officers could face manslaughter charges over the shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, it has emerged.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has reportedly been asked to consider the charges by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

The Metropolitan Police firearms officers have not been identified. But the senior officer has been named as Commander Cressida Dick, who was in charge of the police firearms operations on July 22 last year. The report comes just four days before the CPS is due to formally announce whether it will bring charges in connection with the shooting, which happened at Stockwell Underground station in London.

A CPS spokeswoman dismissed the report as "pure speculation".

She said: "We are not discussing the case until we give the decision on Monday."

An IPCC spokesman said: "We will not comment on speculation."

Meetings

Retired Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Alan Given said the three should not face charges. He spoke to the two firearms officers on the day of the shooting and attended meetings with other senior officers about the situation.

He said: "I am one of the few people who spoke to the officers at the time. And if we are taking people's initial reaction as some window into the soul of what they thought they were doing on the day, then they thought they were doing the right job.

"They thought they were protecting London against what could have been another terrorist attack."

A spokesman for the Justice for Jean Campaign said his family, friends and supporters were still "in the dark".

He said: "We have not seen the IPCC report. We are looking to Monday and hope we can begin finding out why and how Jean died and start the process of bringing those responsible to justice."

The CPS has spent six months analysing the case.

Mr de Menezes, a 27-year-old electrician, was shot seven times in the head by anti-terror officers after being mistaken for a suicide bomber.